Some Training vids

I guess only one video :)

 Also the second skier in this vid.

Edited by Kanakry - 3/19/2009 at 06:31 pm

Wow, is that you? Nice skiing. Do you want feedback or is this just for fun watching?

tdk

Ya that's me skiing in the course not someone off on the side.  Feedback or no feedback it doesn't really matter.  I'm open to anything someone has to say.  I'm not Ted Ligety so there is always improvement to be had.

Look at the Universal Sports videos

www.universalsports.com/club/std/ViewCategory.dbml

and look for common characteristics of the smoothest racers.  Look at the Austrians, Grange, Lizeroux, and some of the other top slalom skiers.  What I see is that their legs are closer together* than yours are, and you seem to be skiing with an up-extension in the release**, which has been measured as slower than a retraction release.  Are you making unnecessary arm movements?  Check this quarter-speed video of Grange made off Finnish TV.

www.youtube.com/watch

*Look at the very little horizontal separation of the legs in most cases, not the vertical separation of the feet when turning.

**An up-extension is when the outside knee straightens to release the skis.  A retraction is when the outside knee bends more to release.  Where the body rises or not isn't relevant to this point.

Ever wonder why your outside ski keeps getting away from you?  It's because you aren't balanced over it.  You shift your weight over the inside ski just after the apex of the turn.  As softsnowguy has noticed, it's your transition that needs work, more specifically your body position through the transition that gives you a very late edge engagement.  From there, you have to brace over the inside ski to keep the skis from getting too far ahead of you.  Everything is happening too late in the turn.

RW

SSG is right, you need to narrow your stance.  Also, you need to focus on creating angulation to hold the line.... inclination is not effective to create the higher edge angles you need.  With the lower edge angles, you're drifting past the gate.  Also, from a tactical perspective, you need to turn ABOVE the gate, so start turning much earlier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron White 

 

Ever wonder why your outside ski keeps getting away from you?  It's because you aren't balanced over it. 

About my Slalom skiing:

Actually I don't have a problem with my outside ski getting away from me.  If anything I have an issue with being able to get off of the outside edge. and on to the new edge cleanly

I know I need to narrow my stance but when I do that at the flatter hills here I am not able to generate power out of my ski's like I can with a wider stace.  So I have to find a happy medium.

I do know that I need to turn just a big earlier, and need more angulation though.

kanakey,

At 19 seconds on the gs vid and at 32 seconds on the sl vid, you can clearly see the right ski tracking away from you.

RW

Heh!  That was a fun day! 

(I'm the first skier in the SL vid)  That was my slowest SL run of the day, thanks to the 3 or 4 gates in the middle, but the rest of the course is pretty representative of my SL skiing.

Here is me in the same GS course.  Ron or Big E, you got some suggestions for me?  I have some ideas, but I'd be interested in your opinions...

It's hard to comment technically on this video. 

From a tactical perspective, you are starting your turns too late.  The apex of the turn (when the skis point down the fall line) should be above the gate. You should be accelerating below the gate.

It looks like between starting the turns too late and primarily using inclination to set the edge angles, you end up drifting more than you ought to.  The transition at the pitch may have set you back a bit, which would add to the late edging.  To handle the transition onto the pitch, make sure you are moving downhill with the skis.  Make sure the upper body stays with the skis.  Then you will be centered earlier, and can start the turn earlier.

Again, use more angulation to stay on the line.  It is difficult but this is really the choice you have: either angulate to hold the line or incline and slide past the gate.  The best racers hold the line better than the rest -- they know the best way to tip and keep the skis on edge.

U.P.Racer,

I agree with BigE on the inclination on the GS course.

On the SL run, you know that you made 3 technical errors which made you very late, but good recovery moves to keep in the course.  There is some inclination, but mostly what I see is you aren't using the inside ski effectively.  This is making everything happen towards the end of the turn which makes you late.  In the transition, work on tipping and guiding the inside ski towards the next gate.  This will make a much earlier engagement of both skis.  You also have a large tip lead on the inside ski.  This puts you out of position for early engagement of the new outside ski.

RW

UP racer, very nice skiing, but I see where you got your name.  I bit of kidding there,,, because even though the camera didn't have a zoom on it, what jumps out at me is how you're allowing the forces of the turn to be somewhat wasted by letting them send you up in the air at release instead of using them to launch you forward into the turn exit line. 

Did you ever see that big forward arm throw move Cuche uses?  He's using an exaggerated effort to do the very thing I'm talking about,,, direct/use the turn forces to drive himself forward.  Others do it without such aggressive extra-curricular, simply by properly timing their release.  When done correctly, the body moves more laterally, and you feel the forward propulsion.  Up sometimes means you're holding on just a curly hair too long. 

Good responses, guys.  Helpful.  I really wish I had some video from the big hill on a true GS.  These things you are talking about get much more exaggerated at that point, although there are some things that I do better. 

The problem with MA on this hill is that it is our Nastar hill (although that isn't a typical nastar set...  I set it at about 23m for GS training.)  That hill is flat enough that I can really "cheat" the line and go pretty direct.

My #1 goal, by far, is to work on early edge pressure.  My #1 problem, by far, is lack of training time.  In fact, other than poaching one run here and there from junior programs, I haven't had one day of training this season.  Just race runs and Nastar (which is normally tighter and straighter than the course above) 

Early edge pressure works incredibly well! But without the proper timing, it's difficult to control.  Sometimes I engage my edge, pressure, then find that if I stay on that same line, I'll end up running directly into the panel or even inside the gate.  At that point I have to release my edges a little, drift, slip by the gate, then re-engage my edges below the gate.  It really pisses me off, because when I nail a turn, I really know it!!

I just need some time in the gates.  Maybe someday...  thanks for the comments. 

(btw, Rick...  You know it's not the word "UP", it's the initials, U.P., for Upper Peninsula, of Michigan..., right?  I get your point, though!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by U.P. Racer 

 

 

(btw, Rick...  You know it's not the word "UP", it's the initials, U.P., for Upper Peninsula, of Michigan..., right?  I get your point, though!)

 

Yep,,, I had to employ a little poetic license to make the joke work. 

Right on about the danger of double turning.  It's why the notion of "wait for the rise line" is so often promoted.